You write so well about your adventures on the project Hoopoe.Thoroughly enjoyed your blogs.It's a project that has always interested me, so thanks for giving us a firsthand account of the work there.Have you felt your time was important to turtle conservation work?

Five days is certainly not a lot to know what impact one individual might have. I do feel, like in the story I relayed , that if the circumstance had been any different, we would have missed that one nesting . Overall if they have less volunteers the beach patrols would be spread thin and would likely miss nestings and fail to poachers more.

This particular circumstance was made challenging by the presence of certain "volunteers" who appeared to be there more for inexpensive place to eat and flop and had little apparent care about the work they were doing. These people left a bad taste with me (my personal issue) . For me, as a scientist looking for a potential sabbatical project, I would likely look elsewhere. I would prefer a true scientific venue.

For an experience of contribution, I feel it is a worth while part of the tour. I learned a lot and experienced wondrous things I would never have had the opportunity to see and do.

There were some people who had been at the center for many weeks and I am sure they took away many positive memories.